favorite recipes from a Northwest kitchen

What’s Cooking: October 2012, Week 2

I’ll give you a clue about what’s cooking around here….But first, this: I was just reading about October Unprocessed, a project that has inspired literally thousands of people to take a pledge to eat only unprocessed foods during the month of October. I’d say I’m an avid home cook, but reading about this made me reflect on what it would mean for our family to take that pledge. No Os cereal for the baby. No granola bars for the kids on the go. No MSG-laced almonds at happy hour. (I don’t know if they really have MSG. But probably.) It would be kind of a big deal. Have any of you taken the pledge? Do you think you could?

And hey, what’s cooking in your kitchen this week? Please feel free to leave your seasonal favorites and links in the comments! Here’s the weekly glimpse into my kitchen.

In the Kitchen

Menu 1: Tune in to the Virtual Vegan Potluck on November 1 for a rich and creamy (vegan) roasted celery soup. We had it with homemade beer bread and cabbage and apple salad.Menu 2: J grilled sardines for maybe our favorite sandwich of all time: crusty bread, swipe of mayo, generous smear of dijon mustard, crunchy lettuce, grilled sardines. Try it. We had them with a cooked-greens salad and a beet-and-orange salad. (There I go again with the many-salads thing. So decadent!)

Today I canned 26 pints of applesauce (which meant four loads in the canner; maybe I’ll do quarts next year) and started a gallon of sauerkraut. Someone remind me to check it in a few weeks, please!I also dried the leaves from a bunch of celery and made a kind-of-amazing homemade celery salt. So far it’s gone on soup and buttered bread, and I can’t wait to sprinkle it on deviled eggs. What else should I do with it?

On My Plate

How many apples are in a bushel? I think I’ve still got at least that many in the basement. What are your favorite or most unique things to do with apples?

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17 thoughts on “What’s Cooking: October 2012, Week 2”

This week has been an EZ week for me. I have posted about Easy Chicken Pot Pie and Easy Strawberry Sauce. I love to challenge myself and bake and prepare special dishes but sometimes you just have to go the Easy Way.

Celery salt on buttered radishes :). Well once they’re back in season. We have been warming up our menus with the cooler weather – we made a supremely wonderful version of your challah using pumpkin, and butternut squash has shown up too :). Applesauce is here, too … Happy fall!

Thanks, Oh and since I can’t gush profusely on my own blog, thanks for so awesomely responding to the girl on my cookie post! I LOVED your comment. That meant a lot to me! It’s always tough when someone makes something that doesn’t turn out. Everything you said to her was totally spot on! xoxo!

I love reading about what’s on your plate! Your many-salads theme is terrific…that’s the way I like to eat. Your Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea salad was a hit – now I want to try your Roasted Carrot and Avocado one.

I took the October Unprocessed pledge (sharing a guest post on Andrew’s site soon) and it definitely has its challenges. We eat home cooked food every day, I read labels, and this still got me thinking more about ingredients in my kitchen and packaged food I buy. It’s been great to involve my teenage sons, too.

I appreciate the shout out – thank you, very sweet of you! I hope you enjoy the stew. :)

I’m participating in October Unprocessed, also. I eat mostly unprocessed anyway, but I’m having only moderate success dropping those last few items. No more cane sugar, at least. That’s a big one!
I’m enjoying your posts. You’ve inspired me to do more canning. Thank you!

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